The current trend in growing fruits and vegetables on a relatively large scale is to deliver liquid fertilizer to the crops along with irrigation water usually by drip irrigation. A very popular pump for delivering liquid fertilizer as well as other materials is a diaphragm puimp supplied by the Hypro Corporation of 375 Fifth Avenue NW, Brighton, Minn. 55112-3288.
The pump housing or body and the valve heads of the Hypro pump are made of cast aluminum. The supply of liquid to be pumped is fed through an inlet line into the pump housing through an inlet fitting, then sucked through inlet ducts in the pump housing to the valve hleads that force it back into the pump housing through outlet ducts that connect to an outlet fitting from which it is discharged into an outlet line.
Although the Hypro pump operates very well with non-corrosive materials, it has been found to deteriorate very rapidly, within about a week of use, when acidic fertilizers are pumped. Because the acidic materials are ducted through the aluminum housing and valve heads, the acid quickly corrodes these parts, and the pump starts to leak and quickly becomes inoperative
Ranchers who have purchased these pumps are understandably desirous of correcting the problem of handling acidic fertilizers without having to invest in a new or separate pump for this purpose. Moreover, they would like to be able to modify these pumps themselves without incurring the costs of having someone else do it.